Turkey is the top child refugee country in the world and is home to over 1.2 million child refugees, due to this programs to help give the children a better quality of life have been created, strengthening education programs, improving the quality of life and a more inclusive society for them, due to this a joint program that started less than two years ago in between the Turkish aid foundation IHH and Qatar’s Sheikh Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) has built a city to specifically house orphan Syrian children.
“Syrian orphans like orphans else where are threatened by substance abuse, forced into being child soldier, human traffickers, missionary organizations, prostitution and organ mafia, begging rings.” said the organizations on an statement
The RAF-IHH City for Human Welfare was built in a 68,000 sqm area in the city Hatay city of Reyhanli near the border with Syria, and includes 55 villas that will house up to 990 children, two primary and two secondary schools, a mosque, a health clinic, a playground and a sports arena. The staff of around 550 members includes caretakers, security officials, psychologists, and teachers to take care of the children that for different reasons have lost their parents.
The villas are 350 square meters, and include two storeys too accommodate 18 children that will be taken care by caregiver who will have their own room, there will also be a bathroom, a kitchen, dining room, study and reading room, playrooms and toilets, as well the dining rooms will be used as study rooms outside mealtimes, as established by the RAF-IHH City for Human Welfare
This project’s aim is to rehabilitate the children that have been stroke by war, causing psychological problems and traumas, this according to reports from their website. An estimate of 5,000 children not residing at the complex Orphans City, will also benefit from the facilities and equipment.
According to UNICEF, over 380,000 child refugees in Turkey are not receiving an education nonetheless this entity claimed that “For the first time since the start of the Syrian crisis, there are more Syrian children in Turkey attending class than there are out of school,”.
With opportunities like this new complex, those numbers will diminish and help out even more since they are reaching especially for homeless child refugees. The RAF-IHH City for Human Welfare official website released the outcome they expect from this work, and it includes: giving orphan children a safe place to live in, help them overcome traumas and psychological problems related to the war, a safe environment away from the mafia, a social and cultural environment the children need, a future with hope and developing confidence in themselves and passing solidarity between Syria and Turkey through generations.
